Which party is responsible for littering?

In the first case there it’s not your fault if you didn’t notice it.

In the other two cases. Anything of that nature that I see lying around near my house, in the street, sidewalk, etc. I just pick it up. Is my responsibility? Not really I guess, but I pick up anyway. If I notice something far down the street I don’t go after it. I might if I was absolutely sure it was my trash from my bin otherwise, someone else will pick it up. It’s your neighborhood; do you want it to look trashy?

I think it is the person who distributes the fliers who is responsible.

Similarly, I think garbage collectors are responsible for doing their job carefully and picking up after themselves.

As to who is responsible for picking it up—whoever sees it. I clean my property of all the detritus that other people leave on it: candy wrappers from kids who sit on my front stoop to eat candy, and dogshit from owners who don’t clean up after their dogs, and anything that blows up on my front yard. If you want a clean planet, you have to do the cleaning yourself. You can’t wait for anyone else.

I pick things up whenever I see it. I’m just curious to see who people think should be responsible for this.

Hmmm…I should have phrased this better. Not who should pick it up. But who is responsible for picking it up. If there were a fine involved, who should pay it? Do you have a responsibility to your neighbors?

All residents are responsible for the clean up in their neighborhood, either by paying someone to do it, or by doing it themselves. When irresponsible people make a mess, they should be fined, but the clean up is for everyone to do.

In the case of the windshield, I’d say the driver is responsible. Not that I’m advocating stopping in the middle of traffic and chasing down the flyer, of course. In the other cases, the flyer people/garbage people should be responsible.